Restaurants in Maltby

Enjoy Greenlake Bar & Grill's casual, eclectic midday menu while taking in the refreshingly natural eye candy of Green Lake across the street. Starters such as the crispy coconut-crusted prawns ($7.99) or the blue-cheese-drizzled wedge salad ($6.99) offer an excellent warm-up for marathon lunches, and hand-held favorites, such as the prime-dip sandwich ($13.99) and the western half-pound burger ($12.99) with melted cheese, bacon, barbecue sauce, and frizzled onions, fill remaining stomach space. The inviting eatery also spoons up plated pastas, allowing you to spicy up a boring day of book watching with an order of the habanero mac ‘n’ cheese with chicken ($11.99). Or, opt for an omega-3 boost by lunching on the sweet-chile-marinated mahi-mahi tacos ($13.99), washed down with a beer or cocktail from Greenlake's full bar.

At Ship Canal Grill, chefs give a nod to local cuisine with a menu largely composed of seafood from the Pacific Northwest. Though plates such as the salmon pesto and honey-walnut prawns dominate a good chunk of the menu, according to Thrillist(http://gr.pn/MKhCeh), turf-based dishes such as the Overboard lamb sliders with caramelized onions and aioli “pack a punch." The eclectic fare also encompasses petite pizzettas and Mediterranean dishes, which pair neatly with the creative cocktails or wines from a huge drink menu. But the eatery's decor inspires just as much intrigue as the edibles.

Bare light bulbs and rotund pipes hang overhead in homage to an industrial design, complemented by 20th-century construction-era photos from the Museum of History and Industry. An open loft looks out over the main dining area, aglow with candlelight and ringed with tan and periwinkle. At the lower-level bar, a bridge of wrought iron holds miniature vehicles over a marble countertop as light seeps in from tall windows.

In the loft, flat-screen TVs and one large projection screen broadcast games, and the billiards room hosts good-natured competition, as patrons unwind over a game of pool, darts, or dodge-darts. A steady string of events keeps other customers entertained: trivia on Tuesday, standup comedy on Wednesday, and live bands on Friday.

As you and your dining date nestle close in Crêpe Café's cozy confines, you'll get to watch the crêpes get spun right in front of you. Though crêpes are traditionally a dessert, it's recommended that you start with the menu of dinner crêpes. Whet your appetite with a bubbly-cheesed French onion soup ($4.95) before wrapping your reptilian tongue around entrees such as heaven's crêpe (black forest ham and swiss topped with homemade béchamel sauce and fresh asparagus, $12.95 for a regular) or the island girl (shrimp with fresh mango, spinach, roma tomatoes, avocado, and swiss topped with a Caribbean lime and mushroom sauce, $15.95). Vegetarians won't have to huffily pick things out of their crêpe and then feed them to roaming restaurant dogs if they order the Westchester (avocado, swiss, caramelized onions, roma tomatoes, and spinach with sun-dried tomato coulis, $12.95 for a regular) or mushroom medley, the house specialty (assorted mushrooms sautéed in a white wine and garlic cream sauce wrapped in a buckwheat crêpe with gruyere cheese, $12.95).

Preservation's plates of Pacific Northwest cuisine change with the season. Start with a plate to share such as buttermilk-tempura-battered calamari ($9), onion gnocchi ($8), or duck leg confit ($12). Main courses from the sample menu include an all-natural roasted pork loin perched atop a ziggurat of risotto made with apples, leeks, and hazelnut ($25), and the ling cod tronchonette: pan-seared Bruce Gore cod with sautéed parsnips and leeks and sourdough crouton in a citrus broth ($21). Preservation's dishes use locally grown, organic produce and sustainably-raised meats and wild fish whenever possible (click here to see a list of its local producers). Pair your meal with Preservation's wines from smaller wineries throughout the Northwest to make a deliciously local dinner. Or stop by for soup ($6 for the soup of the day), salad ($8 for a salad with baby spinach and cranberries), a sandwich ($13 for a smoked duck sandwich), or Benedicted eggs ($10–$12) and gravied buttermilk biscuits ($8–$9) during brunch on the weekends.

Voted as a Best of Citysearch for 2009, Huiyona guides diners through a tunnel-like entrance before welcoming them to a lounge and black granite bar accompanied by three quaint dining rooms decorated by local artist Maery Lanahan. Executive Chef Michael Lopata's dinner menu provides the final accent by unrolling a scroll of sumptuous small plates and big-plated entrees. The corndog has been reinvented with skewered shrimps bathed in house-made corn batter and dipped in the deep fryer ($7). Vegetarian-friendly shiitake and button mushrooms find a new home in light mushroom dumplings presented in a flavorful mushroom broth ($8). Sea-hungry small-platers can turn to Penn Cove black mussels and calamari rings sautéed with aged miso and Napa cabbage ($12), while hearty feasters can savor pork chops and applesauce accompanied by potatoes dauphinois and a Fuji-apple, Asian-pear chutney ($20).

When the feasting hour commences, a lunch and dinner menu unravels a host of homemade meals inspired by a childhood in Calabria, Italy. The traditional recipes enjoy a modern makeover complete with marinara muttonchops. Lucia's signature spaghetti acts as a semolina cradle for hand-rolled meatballs in a white-truffle-oil fondue topped with shaved black truffle ($18). Sample the eggplant parmigiana, which is baked with mozzarella in a sea of red sauce ($15). Poached pear salads satisfy light cravings with a fresh blend of mixed greens, gorgonzola, and candied walnuts with blue cheese ($8 for a half salad), while a Kobe beef burger with onion jam and house fries ($15) fully fills empty tanks. The pistachio-crusted snapper with roasted fingerling potatoes ($19) gives sea-legged stomachs solid grounds for edible exploration.